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Top Deck: Exposure Control

next up, we're going to look at our shutter speed. We have a very easy to work with. Shutter speed dial on the top of the camera. It does have a lock release that locks it in. When it is in the a position, it doesn't lock it in any other time. Eso If you want to be an aperture or excuse me shutter priority aperture priority Worried it with shutter speed is in a it does state lock their very securely. But for all the other shutter speeds, it moves around quite easily. Now there's a lot of different shutter speeds, and it actually gets a little complicated. It's very simple on the outside, but it could get very complicated. So let's take a look at the options here, so first up is automatic. That's pretty easy to figure out. Camera will figure out shutter speeds for you. The top shutter speed is 1 8/1000 of a second on the dial, at least, and then we have shutter speeds at each full increments down to 2 50 where we get an X, which means that is the maximum speed that the camera will sink ...

with a flash unit so to 50th is the flash thing speed, and then we have shutter speeds down to one full second on the dial. After that, we get a T. So the T in this case stands for time, which really means long and specific shutter speeds. So long shutter speeds like 248 up to 30 seconds and specific shutter speeds, which means third step increments. So if you would like to get very precise on your shutter speeds, you are able to get in between, say, 60 and 30 with the 40th of a second and 1/50 of a second. And so, if you know you want thes third stops in shutter speeds, you're gonna need to set it to T. And if you do set it to T, you were then going to be changing shutter speeds with the front dial of the camera. And so it changes and the top dial is no longer being used. It's just said in the team mode, and you're changing the shutter speeds in front. Then we have a B, and that is stands for bulb bulb is for shutter speeds, typically over 30 seconds, and the way bulb works is that when you press down on the shutter release, it opens the shutter and leaves the sensor exposed to light. As long as your finger is down on that button, and then when you're done with the exposure, you would raise your finger off the button and then the shutter, and then the exposure would be complete. Now, obviously, pressing down on the camera is not a smart idea while you're shooting photos because that's gonna being moving the camera. And so that's a good time to use that cable release with the camera and so perfect time for either the mechanical or the electronic cable release. So the other thing that can be done is that you can have even faster shutter speeds than 1 8/1000 of a second. There are a couple of Elektronik shutter speeds that are available up to 32/1000 of a second, and that will be available when you go into the menu system. Here's your first Here's your next shortcut, going into shooting settings and adjusting the shutter type to an electronic shutter. Now we're gonna talk more about this Elektronik center as we go through the class, but that will allow you some extremely fast shutter speeds that are very good for doing portrait's outdoors under bright light, so shutter speeds are obviously very important for controlling action. So if you need very fast shutter speeds for stopping action, you might need 1/1000 of a second to stop an eagle going into the river. For instance, the bulb exposure if you want to do a two minute exposure or something like that, which I wanted to do when I was in Rome here because I wanted to get a lot of tail lights in the shot and a 32nd exposure wasn't long enough for it. So shutter speeds are a little bit complicated on the camera is very simple if you want to stay in the basic zone on the camera. And so let me just do a little demo here for you just to make sure that you have got this correctly and so shutter speeds air very easily set on the top of the camera. But I like to have a wider range, and so I like to be able to get down below a second. I like to be able to set ones that are in between the 30th of a second. So I'm going to set my camera to the tea setting right there, and then I'm gonna go ahead and let's get my camera turned on so that you can see what's going on, and I'm gonna turn this off so that you could just simply see my shutter speeds changing in the front. And so, without the tea setting, I'm gonna take it out of the tea setting. You can see very clearly that I am at 1/60 of a 2nd 30 F 15th and so forth. And so if I smooth it all the way down to T, I can now set the's in between cheddar speeds, and I'm just turning the front dial here. So going from a 60 if I can also stop at 50th and 40th and 30th and if I want to go slower than one second, I have these longer shutter speeds all the way down to 30 seconds and going faster than that, let's see what I have dialed in. Right now. I can get up to 8000 of a second because I haven't gone in to turning on those Elektronik shutter speeds that we will do a little bit later in this class. And so it's a matter of personal preference how you prefer to set your shutter speeds. I I think I'm going to be leaving this camera mostly a t. Because I do like to have the expanded range as well. It's the third stops controlled on the front dial, and there's nothing else that the front dial is normally doing. So you're not really stealing those features away from anything else. And so I think that's how a lot of people will do it, although I do just like the looks of that shutter speed dial on the top of the camera. All right, Next up, let's talk about the apertures, which you're going to be controlled on the lenses. For the most part. Now, there are a couple of different types of lenses, and so many lenses will have an aperture ring on them, and they'll either go toe like F of 22 then they'll have in a setting on him or you'll have a switch on them. And so one of the two different ways and so the our lenses are lenses that have a ring for adjusting the aperture. And so, as I say, some of them have a switch. Some of them you will turn the aperture to now the X C lenses, which are the consumer or kind of lower end. Fuji lenses do not have apertures on them. And so, in order to change the aperture on those, you will need to use the rear dial of the camera to control what aperture you have set. So apertures are, of course, used for controlling the depth of field. You need a lot of depth of field in a shot like this, where you want the foreground and focus as well as the background. This is where I would stop the lends down to F 16 F 22 something in that range for a shot like this. And so, if you want to work with the camera in an aperture priority mode, you simply set the aperture as you want, and you would turn the shutter speed dial toe, automatic toe. Let the camera figure it out, and you could do the just the opposite if you wanted shutter speed control. Now, if you want the camera to be in full program where it is figuring out shutter speeds and apertures for you. You're gonna need to turn the dial on the top of the camera shutter speed to a and then adjust your lands. Two. It's a setting, whether it's with the dial or with the switch on the camera. And so let me go ahead and do a little quick demo here just to show you in my camera. So if I want to put the camera in the full automatic mode, I'll turn the dial to the A setting. My lens has a very bill aperture, so I have a switch on the side of the lens that I will flip into the A setting. And so then on the back of the camera, you can see that as I zoom in or as I move around a little bit, it's adjusting both shutter speeds and apertures for me. Now, one thing I want to go back and show you is in. Let's let's put this camera in aperture priority sewing a flip the lands so that I can change the apertures and you'll notice that it is in blue, which means I am in control of the blue numbers and so I can move this lands back and forth, and this particular lands will have a range from 2.8 down to F 22. So let's do the reverse. Now I'm gonna put the lens in aperture automatic aperture, and I'm gonna start setting shutter speeds myself press the button to release the Saudi here will come down here to 1/60 of a second. And so, at 1/60 of a second, my camera is recommending f nine and I'm currently at I s 0 800 So this is shutter priority, and I could just choose a different shutter speed, and the camera will figure that out by choosing to different aperture. But this lens has a limit. It only goes down to 2.8. And so if I go too far, you'll notice that the F number has become red. And so this is a bit of a warning that says that Hey, this lens doesn't have an aperture that is appropriate for this particular situation, and the camera will still allow me to shoot a photograph. And if I look at that photograph, it's extremely dark because I don't have an aperture that's big enough. And so if you are getting a red warning, whether it's in the back of the camera or in the viewfinder, you have kind of overrun what your lenses capabilities are. You better make some setting adjustments so that you can get back now. Because there are so many shutter speeds and a limited collection of apertures on any given lands, you're going to be hitting these red numbers at either the top end or the back end. And so you'll either need to adjust your I S O change your lighting situation or change your lend situation in those particular cases. All right, and so just pay attention down there in the bottom of the viewfinder for your shutter speeds, apertures and I esos And of course, be aware for any of that red information. And so you'll have a couple of different ways of viewing information, whether it's in the viewfinder, the optical or the Elektronik. And we're gonna talk a lot more about that, or whether it's the simple display on the back or one that shows you the actual image. Now one of the options you can do is a program shift out in front and let me show you real quickly on that one. So on my lands, I'm gonna leave it in the aperture priority mode or the automatic aperture. Excuse me. And on the top of the camera, I'm gonna put that back in aperture priority. And by turning the front dial, I am changing both shutter speeds and apertures and I can take a photo with either one of these. Let me change the display so you can see what I'm pointing out over here. Cameras on a stand over here and so down here at the bottom, 125th of a second at 5.6. If I said I wanted less step the field like a chewed to 54 if I wanted more depth of field, I could go 15th at 16 f 16. And so when I shoot a picture here and then I make some radical adjustments, take a picture. Here I play back this image and the previous image there the same lighting. So the camera is controlling the amount of light that's coming in and you have a slight directional control over shutter speeds and apertures But if you turn the camera off and then you turn it back on, its gonna reset those settings. And so if you have very specific shutter speeds or apertures that you want to use, I'd rather recommend using manual mode. That way they can stay exactly where you want them. But the program mode is really good for getting correct exposures very quickly that are generally in the ballpark that you want. But if you want very specific, that's when you go to full manual. And so pay attention to those colors because those colors will mean something if they're blue. That's going to mean that you have manually set those numbers or you are in control of setting those. It's your job to set those blue numbers, whether it's shutter speeds or apertures, and so you'll often see that blue color come up with some of the other features as well. All right, next up exposure compensation. So any time you have the camera in the program mode or in a shutter priority or aperture priority mode, you'll be able to use the exposure compensation dial on the top of the camera, and this is used very simply for making your pictures a little lighter or a little darker from the recommended setting. So your camera tries with its built in metering system to get you the best exposure possible. But if you want to go beyond it by going under negative minus 12 or three for under exposure or over, you can go +12 or three, so the range is minus three to plus three. But if you want to go beyond that, you can move it over to the sea mode and then use the front dial to adjust it to minus five two plus five. Now there is a little bit of a trick to it because you sometimes have to push the button in. So let me show you on the camera here about how this works. So I am going to throw the camera into Let's see which mode do I want to be in? I think I want to be in shutter priority, but I'm going to use the time. Remember I told you I like to use the time setting so I can set very specific shutter speeds and leave in automatic aperture, and so might be better just to turn this off so we can see what's going on here. So I'm going to select shutter speeds on the front of the camera right here and now. I'm gonna now, if I pressed the wrong button there. Now, if I want to do an exposure compensation, just get the camera here so you can see a little bit the top of the camera. You can see here that I'm going to set a plus one a plus to an A plus three. But if I want to go beyond that, I'm going to go over here to set it to see. Now I'm gonna have the front dial to change my shutter speeds. But I also need it to change my custom dial in the way that I do That is by pressing in on the button and you can see it's now switched to the plus minus so that I can do a plus minus exposure with this. And so if I press in on that button again, it switches over to controlling the shutter speed. So it's a toggle switch by pushing it back and forth. Sorry. Press the button on the back of the camera again. I can switch it from controlling the exposure situation and you can see actually a live little hissed a gram. We'll talk more about this display in a bit, but basically what I'm doing is I'm putting the camera in a shutter priority mode, and I could switch back and forth between changing shutter speeds. And then I'm pressing in on the button and turning the dial. And so if you want to see it from the front side, what I'm doing is I am turning the dial, and then when I want to switch it, I press in on it. And then I'm able to turn the dial again. And so I'm going to get this reset to zero exposure compensation up here, press the button again and then changing shutter speeds on the back. And so just a little bit of a hidden trick on this camera. And there are a number of hidden tricks, and I'll just let you know right now, this camera has mawr secret button functions that I have seen on any camera, and at the very end of this class, I compiled all of them and tell you the 12 secret functions of this camera, so that's just kind of one of them to start with. And so this is something that you're mainly gonna be using in that shutter priority aperture priority and program moat. Now, if you want, you can use the exposure compensation dial to fool the light meter. And so, if you are working in manual and you want a plus one exposure, you could either just manually set your shutter speeds and apertures so that your light meter says plus one. Or you could set the exposure compensation dial toe plus one and then even out your light meter normally. And so let me let me give you a little demonstration of that so they make sure my camera is in full manual exposure. So on the side of my camera, I am adjusting the apertures. So I got my aperture control, and I'm gonna have it in the time mode on top. So I'm just gonna be changing shutter speeds on the top of the camera right here. And so if I wanted to figure out what the correct exposure is in here at F eight, I'll set F eight and let me go ahead and flip this display over to our live display with me. Zoom in just a little bit. And so what I'm gonna be looking at is over here on the left hand side. There's a little indicator that goes up and down, and I want it right at zero. So at F eight in here, the correct shutter speed is 1/ of a second. Now, in reality, we have a white seamless background here, which is very bright, and I should probably overexpose by one stop. So one option would be I could go to a slower shutter speed, 30th of a second, so that I am see, over here on the left hand side, I am over exposed by one stop. Okay, that's one way of solving the problem. All right. So probably the most important thing to know about the exposure compensation dial is to reset it to zero. You generally don't. You definitely do not want to leave that at plus or minus unless you are consciously aware that you are trying to over expose or under exposed that. So for manual exposure, as we said, you're gonna be adjusting your apertures. You're gonna be adjusting your shutter speeds, and then you're gonna be looking at that light meter over on the left hand side of the screen, and you're gonna be wanting to get it in the middle to start with in most situations, and so you'll have minus one stop under exposure. It is showing you in third stop increments, so those little marks are third stop. So that is one and 1/3 stops under exposed two and 2/3 stops, overexposed. And so getting that towards the zero setting is where you're gonna want for general situations. It will depend greatly on the lighting situation. I prefer shooting in manual whenever I can so that I can get consistent results shot after shot. And so if I have this set up manually, I can change my composition. And my lighting is not going to change. Whereas in any of the automated automated modes, it might start changing on me because the amount of light and dark in the scene subtly changes on you and so great system. And I know a lot of people who use this camera are going to be doing a lot of manual exposure